{{tnr}}'''Filemon Vela''' (b. February 13, 1963 in Harlingen, Texas) is a [[Democratic]] member of the [[U.S. House elections, 2012|U.S. House]] representing [[Texas' 34th congressional district|the 34th Congressional District]] of [[Texas]]. He was first elected on November 6, 2012. He defeated [[Jessica Puente Bradshaw]] (D) and [[Steven Shanklin]] (L) in the general election on November 6.<ref>[http://www.politico.com/2012-election/map/#/House/2012/ ''Politico'' "2012 Election Map, Texas"]</ref>

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{{Introanalysis

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|Party=Democratic

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|Rating=Center

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|Pronoun=he

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|Fullname=Filemon Vela

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|Lastname=Vela

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}}

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==Biography==

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Vela was born in Harlingen, Texas. He graduated with a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University and his law degree from University of Texas. He worked as an attorney since his graduation. He once considered running for Congress in the 1980s but his clients kept his focus until he decided to run in 2011.<ref name="nj">[http://nationaljournal.com/congress-legacy/texas-34th-house-district-20121102 ''National Journal'' "Texas, 34th House District: Filemon Vela (D)," November 6, 2012]</ref>

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==Career==

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* 1988-2012: Practicing lawyer<ref name="nj"/>

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* 2013-present: U.S. House of Representatives from Texas

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==Committee assignments==

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===U.S. House===

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====2013-2014====

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Vela serves on the following committees:<ref>[http://media.cq.com/pub/committees/ ''CQ.com,'' "House Committee Rosters for the 113th Congress"]</ref>

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*[[United States House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture|Committee on Agriculture]]

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**Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management

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**Subcommittee on Livestock, Rural Development, and Credit

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*[[United States House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security|Committee on Homeland Security]]

[[File:Filemon Vela 2012 Donor Breakdown.png|right|375px|thumb|Breakdown of the source of Vela's campaign funds before the 2012 election.]]

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Vela won election to the [[U.S. House]] in 2012. During that election cycle, Vela's campaign committee raised a total of $876,684 and spent $772,098.<ref>[http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00034349&newmem=Y ''Open Secrets'' "Filemon Vela 2012 Election Cycle," Accessed March 5, 2013]</ref>

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{{Congress donor box 2012

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|winner = Y

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|Chamber = U.S. House of Representatives, Texas' 34th Congressional District

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|party = Democratic

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|total raised = $876,684

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|total spent = $772,098

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|opponent raised = $95,019

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|opponent spent = $50,895

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|org1 = American Assn for Justice

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|org2 = Border Health

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|org3 = Committee for Hispanic Causes-BOLD PAC

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|org4 = L&F Distributors

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|org5 = Dos Logistics

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|orgdonor1 = $10,000

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|orgdonor2 = $10,000

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|orgdonor3 = $10,000

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|orgdonor4 = $10,000

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|orgdonor5 = $8,500

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|ind1 = Lawyers/Law Firms

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|ind2 = Construction Services

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|ind3 = Leadership PACs

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|ind4 = Misc Business

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|ind5 = Real Estate

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|inddonor1 = $101,858

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|inddonor2 = $27,606

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|inddonor3 = $21,000

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|inddonor4 = $20,400

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|inddonor5 = $17,000

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|}}

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==Analysis==

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===Lifetime voting record===

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::''See also: [[Lifetime voting records of United States Senators and Representatives]]''

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According to the website ''GovTrack,'' Vela missed 1 of 89 roll call votes from January 2013 to March 2013. This amounts to 1.1%, which is better than the median of 2.2% among current congressional representatives as of March 2013.<ref>[http://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/filemon_vela/412580 ''GovTrack,'' "Filemon Vela," Accessed April 2, 2013]</ref>

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===Net worth===

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:: ''See also: [[Net Worth of United States Senators and Representatives]]''

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====2011====

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Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by ''OpenSecrets.org - The Center for Responsive Politics'', Vela's net worth as of 2011 was estimated between $1,254,014 to $15,945,995. That averages to $8,600,004, which is higher than the average net worth of Democratic House members in 2011 of $5,107,874.<ref>[http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/CIDsummary.php?CID=N00034349&year=2011 ''OpenSecrets.org'' "Filemon Vela (D-Texas), 2011," accessed February 22, 2013]</ref>

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===Voting with party===

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====2013====

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The website ''Open Congress'' tracks how often members of Congress vote with the majority of the chamber caucus. According to the website, Vela has voted with the Democratic Party '''91.1%''' of the time. This ranked 168th among the 201 House Democrats as of June 2013.<ref>[http://www.opencongress.org/people/votes_with_party/house/democrat ''Open Congress'' "Voting With Party," Accessed June 4, 2013]</ref>

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==Personal==

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Vela is married to his wife, Rose.<ref name="nj"/>

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==Recent news==

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This section displays the most recent stories in a Google news search for the term '''Filemon + Vela + Texas + House'''

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:''All stories may not be relevant to this page due to the nature of the search engine.''

Based on analysis of multiple outside rankings, Vela is a more moderate left of center Democratic Party vote. As a result, he may break with the Democratic Party line more than his fellow members.

Biography

Vela was born in Harlingen, Texas. He graduated with a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University and his law degree from University of Texas. He worked as an attorney since his graduation. He once considered running for Congress in the 1980s but his clients kept his focus until he decided to run in 2011.[2]

Campaign donors

Comprehensive donor information for Vela is available dating back to 2012. Based on available campaign finance records, Vela raised a total of $876,684 during that time period. This information was last updated on March 25, 2013.[8]

Analysis

Lifetime voting record

According to the website GovTrack, Vela missed 1 of 89 roll call votes from January 2013 to March 2013. This amounts to 1.1%, which is better than the median of 2.2% among current congressional representatives as of March 2013.[10]

Net worth

2011

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org - The Center for Responsive Politics, Vela's net worth as of 2011 was estimated between $1,254,014 to $15,945,995. That averages to $8,600,004, which is higher than the average net worth of Democratic House members in 2011 of $5,107,874.[11]

Voting with party

2013

The website Open Congress tracks how often members of Congress vote with the majority of the chamber caucus. According to the website, Vela has voted with the Democratic Party 91.1% of the time. This ranked 168th among the 201 House Democrats as of June 2013.[12]